The present invention relates generally to social media, and more particularly, to identifying influencers in social media. Social influence analysis on social media websites, such as Twitter® and Facebook® have been playing a role in online advertising and brand management. Users often post text on social media websites which can be influenced by or can influence other users. A social media website, such as Twitter®, allows a user to publish (i.e., post) text content in the form of a message. The posted text content can often be seen by the general public or “followers” of the user posting the text content. The flow of information when text content is posted is directed from the user to the “followers.” On social media websites, the flow of information is typically constant, with new text content being posted every day from a number of users.
The flow of information among users is typically general with countless topics being discussed and certain users which influence others may not be accurately represented as being influential to a specific topic. For example, on social media website Twitter®, a celebrity can be considered an influencer due to the number of “followers” the celebrity has. The celebrity can have more “followers” than for example, a political analyst. However, if the celebrity posts text content on the topic of politics, one can assume the celebrity may not be as big an influencer as the political analyst, regardless of how many “followers” the celebrity has. Currently, analysis programs separate the examination of text content, on social media websites and social network analysis, such as, which particular user influences a large group of users.